Tough to get down to 64 words in a themeless without requiring some compromises. I enjoyed this puzzle, although there weren't as many multi-word, snazzy answers as I like. MELISSA MCCARTHY is fun (hilarious in "Bridesmaids") and CHICAGO SUN TIMES always makes me think of one of my idols, Roger Ebert. ALOHA OE (so weird to see that -AOE ending!) was nice too.

One-word entries can also sing, but I personally find them harder to gush over. PYREX, VACUUMS, ANTHRAX, SHIMMY, NOONERS pique my interest, but not so much for more workmanlike entries like SCIENCE, DICTATE, PERCENT, ASCEND, ITERATE, etc. that I hear every day. Personal taste, but those one-worders tend to feel more like neutral filler.

Great clues can elevate these more boring one-worders, though. I loved the SCIENCE clue, for example: "The great antidote to the poison of enthusiasm and superstition" is something I wish all people would remember in this day and age — it's so hard to argue with someone who discounts SCIENCE.

And ITERATE is better with its clue: [Say, say, say?]. It's not perfect, since "say, say, say" isn't as strong a phrase as I would like (how about employing the song "Sing Sing Sing" for the clue!), but it gets to the concept of ITERATE obliquely and playfully.

Smooth results in terms of short fill. I'm impressed that I had to work to pick out any gluey entries. ASEA is sometimes derided, but I think it's perfectly fine, if a bit old-timey. ALPES might be the only culprit, as the semi-esoteric foreign word. That's great work for a 64-word themer.

Ultra-low word count puzzles often rely on odd words formed by RE- prefixes or -ER suffixes, often have a ton of neutral filler that doesn't excite me much, and/or rely on a ton of crossword glue to hold everything together. It's a mark of success that I didn't actually realize that this was an ultra-low word count effort until I looked at it more carefully. Nice craftsmanship, if not super exciting.

Across

1.

Little rascals : SCAMPS

7.

Man ___ : FRIDAY

13.

Joined the fray : HADATIT

15.

Like some roars : LEONINE

16.

Say, say, say? : ITERATE

17.

Web feed? : INSECTS

18.

Player of Molly on "Mike & Molly" : MELISSAMCCARTHY

20.

Some hosp. tests : MRIS

21.

Excessively tan : BAKE

22.

Like tritium and triplets : RARE

23.

Thirsts : YENS

24.

Suddenly changes direction : ZAGS

25.

Received high marks : GOTAS

26.

Change affiliations : REALIGN

28.

Flask material : PYREX

29.

Gist of a Dear John letter : ITSOVER

31.

Mont Cervin and others : ALPES

34.

Tennis star nicknamed Le Crocodile : LACOSTE

38.

Unearthly : ALIEN

39.

See 53-Across : PICK

40.

Annoyance : PEST

42.

Take off : SOAR

43.

Sender of a billet-doux : BEAU

44.

"Ish" : ORSO

45.

Where Roger Ebert's reviews appeared for 47 years : CHICAGOSUNTIMES

49.

Gets one's feet wet : EASESIN

50.

Team "spawned" in 1993 : MARLINS

51.

Certain trysts : NOONERS

52.

"The great antidote to the poison of enthusiasm and superstition," per Adam Smith : SCIENCE